First truck and first rwd biased vehicle in the snow.

So over the years I have owned awd or fwd vehicles and have been a big believer in snow tires. I bought my Tacoma off my brother with relatively new KO2s on it which he assured me were great in snow (Liar!) I am not used to the rear end of a vehicle sliding around as much as the Tacoma is. (No one has ever accused me of being conservative with the skinny peddle)

Finances are a little tight at the moment or snow tires would already be ordered. Are snow tires just on the rear a reasonable option? For those of you that put weight in the back, how much? I would love to keep the utility of the truck bed so something like a 4'x4' steel plate seems like a better way to go than sandbags or a scrap engine block. I thought about chains for the couple days a year that are real bad. Should chains be applied to all four tires, only rear or only front? Any other tips? The areas I usually drive have some hills that tend to be covered with ice and the temps are high 20s to low 30s. (Spokane WA)

I know that these are very basic questions but it's my first truck and I would rather not slide into something or someone.

 

Pro tip: Learn how to be conservative with the pedal and give yourself extra stopping distance. Then add more stopping distance for buffer.

Chains will really only work on the rear without ensuring that you have enough clearance in the front, use smaller tires, etc. The upper control arm on a Tacoma are very close to the tire, so that's most of the clearance issues.

I don't know why people complain about KO2s being bad in snow. I'm on my 3rd set on the two Tacomas I have owned and have upgraded to a new set before they wore out while the rubber was still soft. Maybe if your tires are >4 years old, the rubber is hardening and not so good.

I would NOT do snow tires just in the rear. If you're really hurting on budget, find a used set to put on all 4 wheels this winter.

Go to empty parking lots that you know don't have ditches, concrete parking blocks, curbs and play around to learn how to drive the truck in snow and ice. Force the rear end into a slide and learn how the truck responds and how to counter steer out of it, let off the throttle and regain traction.

 

Concrete patio tiles work well, but best is to drive to conditions. KO2 are crap on ice.

Nice to have at least one sand bag of you need to bust out open to put sand around your tires.

 

I’ve used 100 lbs, ~2 bags of gravel. It’s what I had. YMMV

 

First make sure your tire pressure is good, if it’s icy I like running around 29 psi. If it even seems frosty or icy I throw my truck in 4H, rwd trucks suck on ice, back ends are so light.
Sand bags for weight in the back, 200lbs works, I have a leer canopy around that weight and my truck feels pretty good in most situations. You need to take it easy out there unless your running winter tires studded, any AT tire is going to suck if it’s icy and your going fast. I run KO2s, I have winters on wheels - Bridgestone DMV2s as well but the KO2s work fine if you drive to the conditions.

 

Go lighter on the skinny peddle and if there is snow or ice on the road throw it in H4.

 

if you are on a manual as well, i find gearing up helps when it gets slick. yes start in 1st, then flip to 2nd ASAP and baby the throttle until it can find grip. just mashing the throttle in 1st will make the ass drift around like Formula D driver. i should add sandbags but for the most part when it gets super dicey i just flip into 4H

 

Spokane is notorious for terrible road conditions and ice on the road. I typically have about 200lbs of gear and sand bags in the bed of my truck. I ran K02’s in Seattle for the first winter I had the truck and I thought they were terrible but I also came from an awd Audi that did better in the snow on summer tires. I switched to Toyo AT3’s and they seemed to be an improvement in snow and ice over the bfg’s. I have since swapped to Cooper ST Maxx’s that I had the center lugs siped on. They did really well last year. Added weight and low tire pressures will help but the Tacoma and most trucks are really easy to break traction in slick conditions. Learn to drive your new truck and take it easy. If I lived over there I’d probably have a dedicated set of snow tires and wheels for winter use.

 

people giving you good advice here. i come from snowy alberta. stuck with the stock firestones for a few years. i found was very doable.
- put in 4x4 before you need to.
- leave something in the bed right over the axel, or put a cap / rtt on!
- easy to make the taco slide for sure, use higher gear, or maybe put on eco mode with throttle controller? mines manual so dont have controller, but go easy, pretend youre Clint Eastwood slow driving his gran torino.
- i personally dislike chains, i have used on drive across rockies but only in some very very slow icy sections because it feels uncomfortable to go fast in them. finally bought full set of winters instead. highly highly recommend, even picking up used dedicated set from facebook. you want them chains on the driving axel, and safer to have them on rear generally,
- i have used the (steel) canadian tire traction aids many times, they are a godsend on the ice. buy some, and bring shovel, shackles, and good recovery rope for yourself and others.

 

Spokane … they commonly get snow that melts and freezes overnight along with decent stretches where temps stay below freezing and the roads never really get clear of the melting and freezing snow. It’s a fun place to visit in the winter.

https://youtu.be/4wAAA2VQsIc

https://youtu.be/n7FBJkpjjqA

 

Installing two winter tires on the rear increases understeer.
Installing two winter tires on the front increases oversteer.

If you have run four winter tires you will be unhappy with every 3PMS tire and sorely unhappy with every M+S tire in your winter conditions.
A worn dedicated winter tire is much better than a brand-new M+S.

 

This. Stick to snows since you already know they work. Worth the money any day of the week.

 

Thanks for all the advice. I think my tire pressure is probably high and I like the idea of patio tiles for weight in the back. I will keep an eye out for a used set of snow tires.

 

Remember to set your tire pressure when cold, even if it's the crack of dawn well below 0*.
Make sure that you have some type of retention system to hold them things down. You do not want them sliding around, or worse, flying out of the bed during evasive defensive driving cuz some asshat is on these tires;

 

If I'm not driving around snow blowing driveways I have two 70lbs bags of sand in the bed on top of the weight of my A R E cap.

 

40lb bags of water softener salt work really well, the bags are damn tough.

 

I guess weight is weight in a sense. I just bought sand cuz it was 3 bucks a piece at Rural King and if I ripped a bag I'm not upset